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What are the effects of maternal working conditions and child care arrangements on child outcomes? Current arguments suggest that the first year of the child's life is a particularly critical time for development, a time when both maternal absence due to employment outside the home and alternative care arrangements may be detrimental. This paper analyzes the effects of maternal working conditions the mother experienced in the first year of the child's life, the nature of child care arrangements the child experienced then, and family configuration during that time as they impact PPVT for 3-6 year olds of mothers who have worked at any point in the child's life (N=1107). The authors find that work hours is non-linearly related to PPVT, such that intermediate working hours has more negative effects than higher or lower total number of hours; additional analysis suggests that repeated entrances and exits from employment in the child's first year may be detrimental. Child care arrangement characteristics have no effects. It was also found that home environment positively affects PPVT, while numbers of older siblings negatively affect PPVT. When maternal race and measured mental ability (AFQT) are controlled, the authors find that PPVT is strongly associated with race, with children of black, Mexican, and non-Mexican Hispanic mothers having lower PPVT scores than children of white mothers. Maternal AFQT positively affects PPVT. The authors conclude that more analysis is required to specify the mechanism through which the timing and duration of maternal employment in the first year may be affecting child PPVT.

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This research tested the theory that use of corporal punishment (CP) by parents (such as slapping a child's hand or "spanking") is associated with restricted cognitive development in children. The hypothesis was tested on 960 children age 1 to 4 in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth for whom cognitive ability measures were available for Time 1 (1986) and Time 2 (1990). CP was measured by whether the mother was observed hitting the child during the interview and by a question on frequency of CP in the past week. Multiple regression analysis controlled for cognitive ability at Time 1 and for mother's age and education, whether the father was resident in the household, and the child's birthweight, age, and gender. It was found that CP was associated with a decrease in cognitive ability from Time 1 to Time 2. If these findings are confirmed by other research, and if programs to reduse use of CP are successful, there could be major benefits for children and society as a whole. These benefits are not limited to higher cognitive ability. Recent empirical research suggest that reduced CP could also result in less juvenile delinquency and lower rates of a number of behavioral problems.